[section_title title=”Introduction”]Introduction
Noctua are a company who have never needed an introduction and in saying that, I am going to do it anyway! Noctua who were founded in 2005 and are an amalgamation of Rascom (Austrian) and Kolink (Taiwanese) and have been producing top quality heat sinks since. One heat sink in particular is the NH-D14 tower cooler which hasn’t just been one of the most popular CPU coolers of all time but also one of the most popular and in my opinion, brought Noctua to the top of the air cooling field.
Obviously a lot has happened in the industry since the release of the NH-D14 which was 2009 and a lot of cooler manufacturers have been not only keeping up with Noctua, but beating them. Today however I will be taking a look at their latest flagship enthusiast grade cooler which has been designed to replace the D14, the aptly named NH-D15.
Can this behemoth carry on the Noctua legacy and dominate the market or has Noctua finally met its match with the other brands? Let’s find out, starting with the specifications…
What Noctua has to say about the NH-D15:
Built on the basis of the legendary NH-D14 and carrying on its quest for ultimate quiet cooling performance, Noctua’s flagship model NH-D15 is an elite-class dual tower cooler for the highest demands. Its expanded heatpipe layout and two premium grade NF-A15 140mm fans with PWM support for automatic speed control allow it to further improve the NH-D14’s award-winning efficiency. Topped off with the trusted, pro-grade SecuFirm2 multi-socket mounting system, Noctua’s proven NT-H1 thermal compound and full six years manufacturer’s warranty, the NH-D15 forms a complete premium quality solution that represents a deluxe choice for overclockers and silent-enthusiasts alike.
Specifications
Compatibility: Intel LGA2011/1155/1156/1150 and
AMD FM1/FM2/AM3+/AM3/AM2+/AM2 (backplate required)
Max TDP: All
Installation Method Intel and AMD – backplate, requires motherboard removal
Height (without fan): 165 mm
Width (without fan): 150 mm
Depth (without fan): 135 mm
Height (with fan): 165 mm
Width (with fan): 150 mm
Depth (with fan): 161 mm
Weight (without fan): 1000 g
Weight (with fans): 1320g
Material: Copper (base and heat-pipes), aluminium (cooling fins), soldered joints & nickel plating
Fan compatibility: 140x150x25, 140x140x25, 120x120x25 (with 120mm mounting holes)
Fan Model: Two Noctua NF-A15
Fan Bearing: SSO2-Bearing
Fan Rotational Speed (±10%): 1500 RPM
Fan Rotational Speed with L.N.A. (±10%): 1200 RPM
Min. Rotational Speed (PWM, ±20%): 300 RPM
Max. Airflow: 82.5 CFM
Max. Airflow with L.N.A.: 67.9 CFM
Max. Acoustical Noise: 24.6 dB(A)
Max. Acoustical Noise with L.N.A.: 19.2 dB(A)
Input Power: 1.56 W
Voltage Range: 12 V
MTBF: > 150.000 h
Let’s take a look at the packing and see how it stacks up…
Hi, don’t the RAMs not overheat due to the proximity of the cooling iron? Have you done any measurements comparing the overall performance with the same one, just using a smaller fan, say NH-D15S or similar? Because if RAM overheats, the overall performance might decrease even with faster processor.